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William John Courthope
William John Courthope (17 July 1842 - 10 April 1917) was an English poet, academic, and literary critic.William John Courthope, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web, Feb. 28, 2016. Life Courthope was born in South Malling, Sussex, where his father was the rector. He attended Harrow School, then went to New College, Oxford. He seemed destined for distinction as a poet, his volume of Ludibria Lunae (1869) being followed in 1870 by the remarkably fine Paradise of Birds. But a certain academic quality of mind seemed to check his output in verse and divert it into the field of criticism. Apart from many contributions to the higher journalism, his literary career is associated mainly with his continuation of the edition of Pope's works, begun by Whitwell Elwin, which appeared in ten volumes from 1871-1889; his life of Addison (Men of Letters series, 1882); and his Liberal Movement in English Literature (1885). From 1895 to 1901 he served as Oxford Professor of Poetry, which resulted in his elaborate History of English Poetry (the first volume appearing in 1895), and his Life in Poetry (1901). He deals with the history of English poetry as a whole, and in its unity as a result of the national spirit and thought in succeeding ages, and attempts to bring the great poets into relation with this. Recognition At Oxford, Couthorpe won the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1864 (for "The Three Hundredth Anniversary of Shakespeare's Birth") and the Chancellors English essay in 1868 (for "The Genius of Spenser"). In 1887 he was appointed a civil service commissioner, being first commissioner in 1892, and being made a CB. He was made an honorary fellow of his old college at Oxford in 1896, and was given the honorary degrees of D.Litt by the University of Durham in 1895 and of LL.D by Edinburgh University in 1898. Publications Poetry *''The Three Hundredth Anniversary of Shakespeare's Birth: A prize poem. Oxford, UK: T. & G. Shrimpton, 1864. *Ludibria Lunae; or, The wars of the women and the gods: An allegorical burlesque. London: Smith, Elder, 1869. *The Paradise of Birds: An old extravaganza in a modern dress.'' Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1870; London: Macmillan, 1896. *''The Longest Reign: An ode on the completion of the sixtieth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1897. *The Country Town, and other poems. London: Humphrey Milford for Oxford University Press, 1920. Play *''The Tercentenary of Corydon: A bucolic drama in three acts. Oxford, UK: T. & G. Shrimpton, 1864. Non-fiction *''The Genius of Spenser: An English prize essay''. London: Rivingtons, 1868. *''Addison. London: Macmillan, 1884; New York: Harper, 1884. *The Liberal Movement in English Literature. London: John Murray, 1885. *''The Life of Alexander Pope. London: John Murray, 1889. *''A History of English Poetry''. (6 volumes), New York & London: Macmillan **''Volume I: The Middle Ages, 1895 **Volume II: The Renaissance and the Reformation, 1897 **Volume III: The intellectual conflict of the 17th century, 1903 **Volume IV: Development and decline of the poetic drama, 1903 **Volume V: The constitutional compromise of the 18th century, 1905 **Volume VI: The romantic movement in English poetry, 1910 *''Liberty and Authority in Matters of Taste: An inaugural lecture. London: Macmillan, 1896. *''Life in Poetry / Law in Taste: Two series of lectures delivered in Oxford, 1895-1900. London & New York: Macmillan, 1901. *''A Consideration of Macaulay's Comparison of Dante and Milton. London: Henry Frowde for the British Academy, 1909. *''The Connexion Between Ancient and Modern Romance: Warton lecture on English poetry. London: British Academy, 1914. *''Essays on Milton. Folcroft, PA: Folcroft Press, 1970. Translated *''Epigrams of Martial''. London: John Murray, 1914. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William John Courthope, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 29, 2016. See also *List of British poets *List of literary critics References *Chisholm 1911. "Couthorpe, William John (1842- )", Encyclopedia Britannica 1911. Notes External links ;Poems *William John Couthorpe at PoemHunter ("Birdcatcher's Song") *Courthope in A Victorian Anthology: from The Paradise of Birds: "Birdcatcher's Song," "Ode - To the Roc," "In Praise of Gilbert White" *William John Courthope at Poetry Nook (21 poems) ;Books * ;About *William John Courthope in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica * Original article is at "Courthope, William John" Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:English poets Category:English literary critics Category:1842 births Category:1917 deaths Category:Oxford Professors of Poetry Category:English male poets